After attending Blue Valley High School’s football game on Friday night, KSHB 41 News’ Matt Foster left with some impressive videos on his reel. After all, it’s not every week you spot the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Chris Jones and Andy Reid at a high school football game.
Foster spliced some footage of the famous fans together and posted the video to X, where it apparently caught the attention of Fox NFL Sunday‘s producers. And while it wasn’t surprising that the Fox pregame show opted to use the footage on Sunday’s episode, what was surprising was that the show did so without giving Foster or his employer any credit, even going as far as to seemingly crop out the watermarked logo the original video included.
“Nothing like a major sports network using video you shot – without permission or even a courtesy,” Foster posted to X, along with a series of rolling eyes emojis. “Good work, @NFLonFOX”
Nothing like a major sports network using video you shot – without permission or even a courtesy 🙄🙄🙄 good work, @NFLonFOX https://t.co/MzK3d2iVdu
— Matt Foster (@MattFosterTV) October 21, 2024
While Fox has yet to respond — at least publicly — some social media users have already aided Foster’s cause. The original post by the NFL on Fox X account, which shows Peter Schrager introducing the video of Mahomes and Co. at the high school game, now includes a couple of community notes letting viewers know that the footage was stolen.
The notes read:
- This video of the Chiefs players and coaches is from Matt Foster of KSHB in Kansas City.
- Fox also cropped out the Watermark in the video.
The #Chiefs spent their Friday night supporting Matt Nagy’s son’s high school football team 👏@PSchrags has more ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/rG2YNKjeDw
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 20, 2024
While Fox would presumably argue that Foster’s video qualifies as “fair use,” this is a pretty obvious example in which credit — at a minimum — should have been provided. And the fact that Fox seemingly went out of its way to crop out Foster’s watermark only raises more red flags, further legitimizing the reporter’s gripe with the network.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.